Marat Safin and grass courts.

If Safin's such a great tennis-talent.....why is he terrible on grass??

He's got the attributes required to succeed on grass: huge serve, great forehand/backhand, hits the ball cleanly and moves well....so why is he only a career 17-12 on grass?
One-yime Quarter-Finalist at Wimbledon, Finalist at Halle - so clearly he can play on the surface.

Does he just hate Wimbledon that much that it affects his game? :grin:

He can dominate a guy for an hour, lead 6/0 - 4/0, and than lose the match because he goes crazy on one bad shot. I think he doesn't move well, he's very tall and many players try to make him run because he's not lightfooted.

If Safin's such a great tennis-talent.....why is he terrible on grass??

He's got the attributes required to succeed on grass: huge serve, great forehand/backhand, hits the ball cleanly and moves well....so why is he only a career 17-12 on grass?
One-yime Quarter-Finalist at Wimbledon, Finalist at Halle - so clearly he can play on the surface.

Does he just hate Wimbledon that much that it affects his game? :grin:

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I think it has less to do with the surface, than with the outrageous price of the strawberries and cream that is charged at Wimbledon. He has talked about this at length every time he has played Wimbledon. He also finds the place stuffy and snobby I'm sure. not his kind of place.

He's had a bad attitude about grass as someone pointed out. But in 2005 he tried to adapt his game more and got to the finals of Halle where he gave Federer a scare and lost 6-4 in the 3rd. At Wimbledon he beat P. Srichapan and Phillipoussis before losing to F. Lopez in 3 tight sets. Tough draw that was. Last year he was up 2 sets to love against Gonzalez but then lost. So basically he's improved his attitude and game in the last couple years and has had tough draws. Would be interesting to see what he does on grass this year. I won't be surprised if he makes the 2nd week at Wimbledon. He has the tools. His serve is BIG on grass.

I remember when he said he hated wimbledon and said he would never play there again. Then, like the next day or something, he said sorry and blamed his anger on his poor playing. I do remember one thing he said very: "Grass is for cows" not tennis players, or something like that.

Agassi, Roddick and Sampras all had the same feelings toward grass at the beginning of their careers and lost early. It wasn't until they changed their mindset that they found a way to adapt and then succeed on grass. Easier for Pete and Andy as their games are more natural for grass whereas Agassi's game was a bit more difficult to execute successfully. But he won Wimbledon anyway.

Agassi, Roddick and Sampras all had the same feelings toward grass at the beginning of their careers and lost early. It wasn't until they changed their mindset that they found a way to adapt and then succeed on grass. Easier for Pete and Andy as their games are more natural for grass whereas Agassi's game was a bit more difficult to execute successfully. But he won Wimbledon anyway.

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Ya haha, I find it bizarre that Agassi won Wimbledon before Sampras did.

Safin has a bad attitude and maybe he's too old to change now. Or maybe he realizes the sun is setting on his playing days. Fonzi needs to tell him to "cool it"

I remember when he said he hated wimbledon and said he would never play there again. Then, like the next day or something, he said sorry and blamed his anger on his poor playing. I do remember one thing he said very: "Grass is for cows" not tennis players, or something like that.